Andersen fifth wheel hitch

[birddog2you]

Just watched the little short vid on this hitch. The only thing I could say is if your happy who cares. We had a saying about helicopters that went like this " Way too many parts for something not to go wrong". Just saying...

[Mr_Fixit]

No one said or implied any hitch would do anything for a fiver running high hitched or a rig with a light pin would be miraculously cured by an Andersen hitch or anything else. You introduced that comment as I recall. I don't think any hitch can make up for those issues and didn't see any comment suggesting it would. It may be true wording in a post lacks precision, but this is a discussion, not a paper submitted for peer review in Science magazine.

It is also extremely difficult for me to assume that with well in excess of 100 favorable reviews and multiple comments regarding a reduction or negation of chucking all those owners are newbies. Many of them contrast the improvement with hitches they have owned in the past and named the hitch they previously owned.

Is there a "halo effect" as suggested earlier with what one finds on manufacturers' sites? I agree a good many folks are enamored by their purchase and suddenly everything is sunny. Even given this, however, it is still difficult to make a case that everyone responding on this forum and everyone reporting in other forums or websites is so smitten they are blinded by their new hitch.

As I noted previously, some owners report they still have chucking with their Andersen. I don't think it is perfection, but almost to man, they report improvement to some degree.

Is the data we have predictive of improvement in every case? Certainly not, there are always shades of gray, but that does not negate concluding that there may be some reduction in chucking that varies by rig.

Is there ever enough information in an scientific inquiry, which is what this is? Very seldom, but it is best to not "throw the baby out with the bathwater"

I am not ready to buy one yet, but would like to try one.

Steve

[shane772]

I just bought the Andersen on black Friday. Haven't got to use it yet but I'm looking forward to it. I didn't buy it to eliminate chucking, I bought it because it's so light I can remove/install myself.

[Mr_Fixit]

Let us know what you think. Even if all it did was lighten the lift in and out of the truck, that should be a real advantage!

Steve

[McRod]

I'd like to know if anyone has one of these on a 2012 or newer Dodge Ram 3500 Mega cab. Concerned about clearance, since it is not a slider.

[shane772]

Originally Posted by McRod

I'd like to know if anyone has one of these on a 2012 or newer Dodge Ram 3500 Mega cab. Concerned about clearance, since it is not a slider.

check out the cummins diesel forum, there are people over there running them.

[Cummins12V98]

Originally Posted by Mr_Fixit

It does lock the RV to the ball just as a travel trailer or horse trailer locks to the ball.

How do you actually account for the wide ranging reports of reduced chucking. This is not from a few owners? The number reporting improvement is very large and borders on universal from owners? Simply saying they are wrong doesn't account for their self-reports.

I don't know. I am just reporting what I have found.

Steve

Please show me how to "LOCK" a RV to a Andersen hitch.

[Cummins12V98]

Originally Posted by rskeans

On Chucking, the hitch has everything to do with chucking. The only thing between the RV and TV is the hitch.

There is NO bed deflection when the Andersen is properly torqued to 50 ft-lbs.

If I were towing your 23,000 lb rv with 6000 lb pin weight I would also use another hitch. Not everybody has a 6000 lb pin weight.

I don't see the Big Negative about locking the RV to the hitch. You have the only setup that I've seen in my 30 years of towing that has pad locks on everything.

Unless your Andersen is mounted to a picture frame adapter your bed WILL deflect with the 19K you are towing. The same thing happened with my Companion in 2011 RAM towing heavy MS. My bed was deflecting. B&W sent me spacers so the weight was transferred to the cross members that sit on the frame. These newer trucks don't have the thick metal in the beds of yesteryear.

[Mr_Fixit]

Originally Posted by Cummins12V98

Please show me how to "LOCK" a RV to a Andersen hitch.

So hitches that clamp on hitches do not lock on the ball? Is this a game of semantics? Is there a data source I can find that shows the number of RVs that detached from their ball mounts, as I believe you are attempting to suggest a safety risk. I have no problem finding pictures of travel trailers taking the truck over on it's side without coming unhitched. That would suggest they hold fairly well.

Now here is the crux of our discussion on this point. If you are saying they have a greater likelihood of coming detached under a severe force than a convention fifth wheel hitch, I agree. Andersen offers safety chains and I would have them on it (I am "sally safe" on safety issues).

At the same time, I would ask what is the real world probability of a fiver coming detached from an Andersen hitch? I would suggest it is minuscule when compared to known risks we face everyday on the road, idiots texting while they drive for example. And I suspect the force it would take would be great enough to cause cataclysmic damage towing with a conventional hitch.

If we resort to making decisions about risk, factually none of us should ever drive more than 10 miles an hour or even leave home. I really do appreciate the points you are making. What I hear you say is don't simply rely on opinion and self-report when making buying decisions and don't forget safety concerns, even though they may be very small. However, at times I think the message is submerged in the style.

Shall we continue?

Steve

[unitlink]

Originally Posted by Cummins12V98

Please show me how to "LOCK" a RV to a Andersen hitch.

At this point I think your just trolling. It doesn't surprise me I found you post in another forum against using an Andersen hitch. It seems (to me) you are either paid by or like to represent B&W for free. Maybe they gave you some swag?

Maybe you should view the video here on how to setup and hook up to the Andersen. You will see the step you lock the ball in. And here you can see a picture where it shows the locking mechanism inside the block that locks to the ball on the hitch.

It seems the only people that discredit Andersen are the very same people that have yet to use it. Use what makes you happy. If you don't like/trust a product don't use it.

This reminds me of people that are scared of "change" or something new because it disrupts what used to be the norm.

[Mr_Fixit]

I don't want to blow off any comments as I think even strident ones that disagree wit popular positions make us think and evaluate our choices.

The single serious concern I have about Andersen hitches is a report that the piece that attaches to the pin cracked twice. I know that is a single report on one fifth wheel, but if there was a recurrent report, I would be worried. So far it is not and may be due to something other than Andersen components. I just don't know.

Steve

[Cumminsfan]

My point I'm trying to make about chucking is that all the reviews I've read on various RV forums about the Anderson reducing or eliminating chucking are almost never followed up by a reason why they had chucking in the 1st place.
If someone said they replaced a worn out 5th hitch with an Anderson and the chucking disappeared then that would be reason enough.
I have nothing against the Anderson, in fact I wish I had one, but like I mentioned earlier they weren't on the market when I bought my B&W.

[Mr_Fixit]

I wonder if it is not simply the case that chucking is a multi-dimensional issue which is why no everyone reports it reduced chucking. That seems to be the case with most things. Might be the same here.

The light weight is still hard to pass on regardless.

Steve

[Cumminsfan]

Originally Posted by Mr_Fixit

I wonder if it is not simply the case that chucking is a multi-dimensional issue which is why no everyone reports it reduced chucking. That seems to be the case with most things. Might be the same here.

The light weight is still hard to pass on regardless.

Steve

Totally agree.
As far as the weight thing goes, I'm somewhat considering selling my B&W and giving the Anderson a try. I don't remove my B&W all that often but when I do it's hard work. @63 yrs old I really don't need to be hauling it around. Only thing about the Anderson I don't like compared to the B&W is the ease of hitching. With my B&W I can be off center a skosh and still back in till the pin hits the back of the jaws. With the Anderson you have to be dead on in both directions. I suppose I could get the hang of it though.